By Baiartis Lyngdoh Peinlang
Some people live with the illusion that people in Meghalaya had survived without tourism in the past and they will still be able to survive without tourism in the future. For them what’s important is the Inner Line Permit (ILP). Such people don’t even realize that tourists come here simply to pay a visit; not to stay here forever. Others perceive that tourism had helped many rural communes to earn an alternative income from the growing tourism industry in the state and that the implementation of ILP will be the sudden termination of its growth. Therefore, it is quite obvious that the issues of ILP implementation and tourism promotion would continue to be at the centre of the debate. The paradox is that neither the state nor the protagonists of the ILP or indeed the stakeholders of tourism have sat across the table to thrash out these issues.
There are three basic facts that we have to know about the tourism potential in Meghalaya and whether or not ILP will affect their growth.
Firstly, across the world people are striving towards achieving sustainable development and tourism is one such promising sustainable industry. It’s the only non-polluting industry. However, we also need to know that there are two major forms of tourism viz. mass tourism which is low priced and hence can attract huge number of visitors during the peak seasons and high-end tourism which brings tourists through the year. Mass tourism is seasonal and therefore short-lived and can have devastating impacts on the environment and hence it cannot be considered sustainable. High end tourism includes adventure tourism, eco-tourism, health tourism, religious tourism etc which attracts national and international tourists with disposable income. This category of tourists have the money to spend and also understand and respect the local cultures. They practice responsible tourism.
Secondly, many rural communities in Meghalaya had been experiencing sudden termination of their sources of earning cash income due to the ban on tree felling and coal mining and hence they need to be provided with sustainable livelihoods that do not go against environmental policies. Community-based rural tourism, which falls under the domain of eco-tourism, is one such approach towards sustainable development that can help achieve the objectives of sustainability on account of the fact that it is both nature-based and agro-based and its growth is dependent on the ability to maintain pristine natural landscapes and to preserve local cultures. Also the readiness of the host communities to cooperate in the process of sustainable development becomes spontaneous as they begin to learn that they can earn cash income through their effort of preserving and promoting local cultures, local environment and agriculture.
Thirdly, tourism development in Meghalaya is mainly dependent on nature as the ultimate provider of tourism resources and tourism products, and hence we need to understand that mass tourism will have a devastating impact on the carrying capacity of the landscapes in many areas. Hence, it is important to see that all efforts are geared towards attracting only eco-tourists or high end tourists who really want to learn and appreciate the uniqueness of our culture and the beauty of our natural and quasi natural landscapes. High end tourists will always pay a visit to a place they love irrespective of the price and whether or not ILP is in place. Investors in tourism or in other sectors as well will invest irrespective of whether ILP is implemented because they will always want to promote their businesses. In fact, ILP will help to attract only high end or responsible tourists and keep the irresponsible ones at bay.
Based on the above facts, it is recommended that policy makers spend more time on making efforts towards promoting and facilitating the community-based rural tourism approach for the benefit of the host communities by ensuring delegated power or citizen control on the tourism industry instead of wasting time in debating and merging the issue of ILP with the issue of tourism promotion.
The writer is a research scholar and can be reached at [email protected]